Rejecting the teaching of religion and the concept of god is the first step in having an open mind. It is the first step, not the last. Being able to think for yourself is a big move. I would not downplay it.

I don't mean to downplay it, and neither (I think) does Hitchens. But I would argue that it does not make you inherently better than anyone else. A person should be judged based on their actions, not their beliefs.

Define better. Atheism, makes you able to think and make decisions without the boat anchor of religion. Then it is up to you. You can do evil or dumb things. Once those happen, the judgement changes. Being an atheist does not mean you will always choose wisely.

Of course it's difficult. It's incredibly difficult. But when someone acts like the stereotypical internet atheist it only aids those who seek to depict all atheists as angry, intolerant, or unsympathetic.

For centuries religion has had the distinct advantage of majority rules over agnostic and atheistic peoples. As such it has for far too long been pushing others around as if superior.

Now I don't condone evil actions or even poor debate, but sometimes just sometimes smacking the confidence out of a believer is the easiest and quickest way to get some change in the world.

So what I'm saying is, I will continue to treat everyone regardless of their position with equal respect because that is how I was brought up but you also won't see me quickly judging other atheists or agnostics for being brutally upfront and honest about how they feel to believers.

Part of the reason theism has too much power and influence is atheists/agnostics did or have done too little to stop it.

True, but look at the post this is referring to. On two separate occasions religious people said basically, "These deaths are tragic. I am hoping that the survivors will do well, and my hope is being expressed through my beliefs."

When a theist tells a grieving person, "I'm praying for you," yes, all it's saying is, "I'm hoping impotently that things will be okay and not doing anything tangible," but well... What else are they supposed to do? Someone died. I can't bring them back. You can't either, and neither can any other theist or any other atheist. But it's kind words, and if I lost someone close to me and someone told me they would pray for me I would only react poorly to them if I was too blinded by grief to pay attention to what they were trying to convey.

But the atheist in that post does not even have that excuse. He bursts into someone else's chat and yells at people for paying their respects in an awful situation. That's not the fucking time. When Person A lost a loved one, Person B has no fucking business being a drama queen about Person C's beliefs when Person C trying to be a comfort. When someone is fucking dead and gone for-fucking-ever, it's not about atheism or theism or anything else except the sick sad world we live in, and anyone who thinks it's a great time for a religious debate is a selfish and petty drama queen.

Regardless of the social relations, when someone is "very sad" I don't think that's the right time to get high and mighty and insult them. The person who commented in the original post is being arrogant and proselytizing. If it's not okay for the religious, then it's not okay for us. You can't criticize someone and then do the exact same thing that you criticized them for.

I disagree.. we have no necessity to act passive, if common sense is to take hold we must treat the members of society who hang onto archaic and silly beliefs and religions with the same amount of indecency and stigmatization as they have treated atheists in the past and even the present. It doesn't make sense to take a passive role, we must be active and do every little bit we can to ensure that this world can move forward and every member of society knows and understands what they can of the scientific knowledge we have gained thus far. All of this religious fairy-tale and fantasy only takes up space in the brain that the next great scientist could of used to come up with the perfect ideas for interstellar travel.

I don't know about you but I don't give a damn how it's done.. I want these religions gone and I want my kids to never have to be told "God does it."

I'm not trying to be rude or to start an argument, but you sound like a fundamentalist. You don't give a damn how it's done? Torture, war, bigotry, oppression, if we use these tactics then we're no better than the fundamentalist christians or the the Islamo-fascists that we all claim we despise.

On a more personal note, I recently lost a very young niece to brain cancer. Her family (CLARIFICATION: my wife's biological niece) is very religious. Was the funeral the right time to argue for atheism? Should I have walked up to my grieving sister-in-law and mocked her faith in god on the day she had to bury her seven year old daughter? During the eulogy, should I have stood up and ranted against religion? When my brother-in-law spoke about how he hoped to one day see his daughter again, should I have told him that he never would? That she was worm food and he should suck it up and act like a rational person?

You might want to think about what "any means necessary" really entails.

When do you start building a better world? Do you start when you think you won't hurt anyone's feelings? Do you hold the same ideals only when they are convenient? If you believe that everyone would be better off as an atheist and that the world would benefit from it than you need to be a warrior if only a verbal one. I'm not saying Westboro Baptist Church style.. and I'd had a few when I wrote my original comment so it was a little extreme, but certainly if you want things to change for the better sometimes you will have to speak up in situations that make you uncomfortable.

You make it sound like a religious individual can't also make contributions to science. The two things can be compatible and not all people who have a belief in a God are religious fundamentalists. It is also true that not all people of faith have tried to oppress you. What you are doing is really a broad condemnation against people who really have not wronged you in anyway.

The two things can be compatible but one thing certainly has and continues to impair the other. You're right not all of them do oppress me, but the ones who haven't usually don't make a very grand effort to impede or stop those that do. I consider religion a problem and all problems need a solution in the long run.

The two things can be compatible but one thing certainly has and continues to impair the other.

This is not usually the case. You seem to have taken a very vocal subset of people as the defining characters. Most religious people I know in my community are still doctors, researchers, or engineers and I don't you would say they don't believe in science and its applications because their firm belief in God. An open mind leaves one to reach a variety of conclusions and this can included having faith in a God.

but the ones who haven't usually don't make a very grand effort to impede or stop those that do.

Apathy is a long standing issue people have and it exists outside of religion. I would say people usually just don't wish to get involved in the problems of others unless it directly affects them, usually in a negative fashion.

Do you know what happens to atheists in fundamentalist Muslim countries? They die. They are murdered in cold bold and usually in public and in front of their families. And you people are worried about somone's feelings getting hurt?

Really? Hitchens? One of the most outspoken antitheists of the last thirty years? He's the guy you're going to quote to defend the outrageous position that spewing religious nonsense into a public forum should be met with respectful deference and silence?

People are really misunderstanding this quote. Religion is obviously wrong, and in realty it takes extremely little effort to see that. There's no reason to feel superior about it, but if anything this points out how little he thinks of theists. This whole point he's making is that theists are fucking remarkably ignorant.

It's got nothing to do with respectful deference and silence, it's just a reminder to not be such a cocky, headstrong dick. Just because we're atheists doesn't mean we can do no wrong or that we're automatically better than other people. I think even Hitchens would have a problem with this. If you've ever watched any of his debates with religious people, you would see that the Hitch could prove somebody wrong without being a total ass about it.